US Unemployment Rises Faster Than Expected, Bitcoin Falls

Unemployment in the US appears to be rising faster than initially expected. For example, the U.S. government released its weekly number of jobless claims yesterday, which came in at 231,000 more than the 220,000 expected. Also, the number of continuous jobless claims was also better than expected at 1.865 million and 1.847 million.

Is The US Economy Weakening And What Does That Mean For Bitcoin Price?

US unemployment is rising

The number of jobless claims rose to a nearly 3-month high of 231,000, while the number of continuous jobless claims was at its highest level since late 2021.

This means that the US economy is now slowly but surely starting to feel the pain of Fed rate hikes (and inflation).

It is clear that the US economy is weakening from the words of Walmart’s CFO indicating that the retailer saw a sharp decline in sales in the last 2 weeks of October.

Is the American consumer’s wallet empty? Will the doom that many analysts say has been in the pipeline for months begin now?

What does this mean for the price of Bitcoin?

We are getting signals from all corners of the market that the global economy is weakening.

🛢️Oil price down 10% in 2023🛢️

What does this mean for the global economy?

Despite production declines and weak supply prospects due to geopolitics, it is highly unusual to see oil heading towards an annual loss. pic.twitter.com/vMsG1zLnZR

— Thom Derks 🖊 (@_Thom_Derks_) November 17, 2023

For example, despite production declines and geopolitical tensions, oil prices have fallen about 10 percent since the start of 2023, which would normally lead to higher prices.

Everything points to a recession still possible.

But what does that mean for the price of Bitcoin? In principle, this is particularly bad news in the short term because people need to sell their investments to keep their heads (financially) above water.

Once central banks start cutting interest rates, some breathing space may become available again, and this could be a catalyst for higher prices.